As they were at the table eating, Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, one of you eating with me here will betray me.” Greatly distressed, each one asked in turn, “Am I the one?” He replied, “It is one of you twelve who is eating from this bowl with me. For the Son of Man must die, as the Scriptures declared long ago.” [Mark 14:18-21 (NLT)]
In my last post, I pondered why Jesus chose the men he did as his apostles. As we enter Holy Week and the events leading to the Lord’s arrest and crucifixion, I wonder specifically about Judas Iscariot. We don’t know what Jesus saw in Judas when he was chosen as one of the twelve or even what was in Judas’ heart in the beginning of Jesus’ ministry. We only know that discontent, ambition, and greed had entered his treacherous heart by the end.
Since all of His disciples abandoned Jesus that night in the garden, perhaps all twelve had the potential to be His betrayer. Peter not only fled, but he also denied Jesus—three times! The zealot Simon easily could have become disappointed in Jesus when it became clear that overthrowing Rome was not part of the Lord’s plan. Matthew’s past was shady and, like Judas, he could have been tempted to steal from their money bag and sell out the Lord. We have James and John: the angry men who wanted to call down fire on a Samaritan village because it wouldn’t welcome Jesus. The brothers had hoped for honored places by the earthly throne of Jesus. Could their disappointment in Jesus’ response to their request along with all His talk about being a servant have caused the brothers to think about betrayal? The disciples were twelve ordinary men—perhaps, any one of them could have chosen to be the betrayer.
As they gathered around the table that last night, Jesus told His disciples that He’d be betrayed by one of them. Rather than asking Jesus, “Who?” one by one the men asked, “Am I the one?” It seems that each disciple thought himself capable of betrayal. After all, throughout their three years with the Lord, they all must have had moments of disillusionment, doubt, fear, and confusion. Nevertheless, only one man allowed Satan to enter his heart.
Like Judas, we all harbor darkness in our hearts—each of us is capable of unspeakable evil. We can choose to be faithful or unfaithful, true or false, friend or foe. We can be true to Jesus or betray Him—the choice is ours.
Still, it’s difficult to understand why Jesus kept Judas around until that last night. Knowing what was going to happen, how could Jesus wash his feet and break bread with him? Later in the garden, when Judas greeted Him with a kiss, how could Jesus call him “friend?” Our Lord never asks us to do something He hasn’t done Himself. Perhaps, Jesus’ relationship with Judas was His way of demonstrating the sort of behavior He wants from all of His disciples—love, mercy, and forgiveness for our enemies, even for those who betray us! Let us remember the words He spoke from the cross: “Father, forgive them, for they don’t know what they are doing.” [Luke 23:34]
In a cartoon drawn by Paul Noth, an enormous political billboard overlooks a pasture inhabited by a flock of sheep. Looking up at the picture of a grinning wolf in coat and tie saying, “I am going to eat you!” one sheep tells another, “He tells it like it is.” Would that all politicians were so forthright!
“How was work today?” asked the wife in the Born Loser comic strip (drawn by Chip Sansom). Her husband answered, “Horrendous!” adding, “It feels so good that it’s over, I’m almost glad it happened!” Having had times when my prayer was simply, “Lord, just get me through this!” I understand. Sometimes, life seems so challenging and exhausting that we’re willing to settle for merely getting through it. That, dear friend, is setting the bar far too low. God has better plans for us than just getting by and none of us are born losers.
During that dark time about which I recently wrote, I was in intense pain and it seemed like God had turned His back on me. When I confided to a friend that God seemed deaf to my pleas, she asked the simple question, “Have you turned it over to the Lord?” I assured her I had but, as the day wore on, I wondered if that were true.
When I first started reading the psalms, I suspected David might have been bi-polar—his highs seemed so high and his lows so very low; now I understand that he was just being truthful. In his psalms, David unabashedly expressed his deepest feelings to God. Pouring out his soul, he openly shared his emotions—whether anger, disappointment, sorrow, regret, shame, joy, love, fear, doubt, or even his desire for vengeance upon his enemies. No matter how troubled he was, David never was afraid to speak from his heart. I’m not sure we are willing to be as vulnerable and straightforward in our prayers as was David.
The next morning, while Jesus and the disciples walked from Bethany to Jerusalem for yet another confrontation with Judea’s religious leaders, the disciples saw the tree Jesus cursed the previous day. The disciples had witnessed Jesus cast out demons and still a storm with a just a word but, when they saw the withered and dead fig tree, they were amazed. Normally, trees die slowly from the top down but this tree instantly withered from the roots up. With dead roots, no amount of water or fertilizer would revive it. Having witnessed the tree go from abundance to ruin with just a word from the Lord, rather than asking Jesus to explain cursing the tree, the disciples focused on the speed with which the fig died.
